The field of the present invention relates to devices for golf swing training and muscle exercising devices which enable users to develop the proper elements of a golf swing while exercising the muscles generally utilized in a proper golf swing.
At whatever level of play a golfer has reached, there is continuing need for practice in order to improve or perfect one""s golf swing. It is every educated golfer""s desire to consistently execute a perfect well-timed swing where everything comes together in an easy relaxed motion. In such a swing the club head will meet the ball at an optimal attitude and will continue along the target line, propelling the ball flight where the golfer has aimed it. Whether a beginner, a low handicapper or week-end golfer, it is every golfer""s desire to consistently execute a perfect well-timed swing where everything comes together in an easy relaxed motion. In such a swing the club head will meet the ball at an optimal attitude and will continue along the target line, propelling the ball flight where the golfer has aimed it. To occasionally execute such a swing provides a peak experience to any golfer""s game. To repeatedly execute such a swing is the ultimate goal to which every golfer aspires as he or she contemplates the state of their game.
A golf swing is a combination of a number of actions or elements completed in series. An improper execution of any one or more of these actions will produce other than an optimum swing. While such elements can be evaluated individually, it is their flowing sequential execution that provides a dynamic interrelationship to produce a desired golf swing. Individually, the actions or elements that make up the preferred golf swing can be generally summarized as; the hand placement on the club and the club extension, release, and follow-through as the club is swung. These elements occur sequentially, with the upper body rotating as the club is swung and a weight transfer occurring from one leg to the other. During extension, the golfer""s weight is generally on his or her back leg. At release, it is evenly distributed, and at follow-through, his or her weight will have transferred to the leading leg.
The present invention provides a dynamic training system whose repeated use will condition a golfer to perform a proper golf swing. Whereas, earlier devices and arrangements have addressed improving or modifying aspects of the swing only. For example, certain earlier devices have dealt with club grips for positioning a golfer""s hands around the club grip and, to that end, have provided grooves, finger pads, and ridges to fit the contours of his hands. Some such grips are shown in patents by Papin, U.S. Pat. No. 1,638,454; English, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,322; Beebe, U.S. Pat. No. 2,628,100; Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 2,046,191; Ottman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,505 and Cummings et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,376.
In addition to earlier U.S. Patents disclosing club grips, an earlier patent to Barnhart, U.S. Pat. No. 2,146,048, recognized a benefit to weight displacement in using a bent golf club shaft. This weighted shaft arrangement was, however, intended only to dampen a shock imparted into the golf club shaft when the head struck a golf ball.
A number of other golf club training and guiding devices have been proposed for training golfers with respect to maintaining the proper golf club movement while addressing and striking the golf ball. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,121,925; 5,083,790; 3,583,707; 3,351,346; 3,341,208; 3,339,927; 2,756,056; 2,520,287; 1,944,942 and 1,567,530. Most of these patents utilize rings, and/or arc devices for aiding the golfer during the golf swing and some of these devices utilize guides wherein the club may be connected to a ring or arc to indicate to the golfer the proper club swing movement. While these patents may provide help to some, they may be viewed by others a cumbersome, and to hard to understand, which lead to limited use and ultimately to non-usage.
Other swing training clubs and related devices have also been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,874; 4,653,757; 4,580,786; 4,262,573; 4,229,002; 3,738,661; 3,703,294; 3,614,108; 3,462,156; 3,429,571; 3,319,963; 2,848,234; 2,328,408; and 1,893,920. Most of these devices are believed to be to large, to heavy, to expensive and/or demonstrate a lack of portability or durability. As such, these devices are believed to be impractical for convenient use and/or commercial distribution.
Additionally, a bent shaft and weighted head arrangement is shown for a golf swing training device in a patent by Strahan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,346. This swing trainer, however, while it recognizes a benefit to a bent shaft and a weighted end displaced from a golf swing center line, is significantly different in structure from the trainer of the present invention in that it teaches a trainer shaft having a single bend only and it arranges a weight to encircle the shaft and to be adjustable vertically thereon. Also, the Strahan trainer is used to retrain a golfer to perform an inside-out golf swing correcting only a single aspect of the swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,147 to Olsen also teaches a weighted training club having a double bent shaft and a training grip on the proximate end of the shaft. The training club is generally the same length as a fall length club, however, and would be difficult to use indoors where space is limited. Furthermore, the weighted end of the club has a set weight which may or may not be an appropriate weight for golfers of various size/age or strength. Therefore, it is believed that such a training club would be of only limited use to golfers of a certain size and strength and/or to seasonal golfers living in colder climates where one might find themselves indoors in close quarters during the winter or during otherwise inclement weather; quarters too close to use a swing trainer the length of a regular golf club.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there is a continuing need for new and improved training clubs that will benefit golfers of all ages and genders; a swing trainer which can be easily used inside and out, by users of various size and strength. The present invention provides advantages over the prior devices and the prior methods used to resurface these and other surfaces, and also offers other advantages over the prior art and solves other problems associated therewith.
A golf swing training and muscle exercising apparatus or swing trainer is provided which is designed to be used indoors as well as outdoors. The golf swing trainer includes a double bent shaft having upper and lower end portions separated by a center portion, the center portion being interconnected at opposite ends with each of the upper and lower end portions by first and second joining portions. The upper and lower end portions being substantially straight and having respective center lines, wherein the center line for the upper end portion is the first center line, the center line for the center portion is the second center line and the center line for the lower end portion is the third center line, the first center line lying at an angle A to the second center line an the second center line lying at an angle B to the third center line. The first center line, second center line and third center line preferably lie in the same plane and angle B is preferably greater than angle A. This permits the weighted head at the distal end of the swing trainer to be centered somewhat more closely to an extensions of the first center line allowing the weighted head, while still offset from the first center line, to feel more centered to the user when gripping the proximal end of swing trainer. It will be appreciated that this is advantageous in a shortened club, because of the potential overemphasis of the offset when, it is believed to be too great and which may result from the use of the shortened club length. In preferred embodiments, angle A preferably is from about 12 degrees to about 18 degrees, angle B is preferably from about 18 degrees to about 25 degrees and angle B is greater than angle A. The preferred golf swing trainers of the present invention will include a training grip on the proximate end and the shaft will be made of metal bar stock. The preferred golf swing trainers will also include a weighted head detachably engaged with the distal end, and weighted head will preferably weigh from about 0.5 to about 3.0 pounds. In preferred embodiments, the swing trainer of the present invention, may be sold with a series of exchangeable weighted heads having varying weights; preferably the weights of the different weighted heads will include 0.5 pounds; 1.0 pound; 1.5 pounds; 2.0 pounds; 2.5 pounds; perhaps 3.0 pounds; and/or any possible combination thereof. The preferred golf swing trainers will also be, preferably, about 26 inches or less in length, more preferably about 24 inches or less in length, more preferably about 22 inches or less and most preferably from about 20 to about 22 inches in length, for easy use inside or out.
The golf swing training device or swing trainer of the present invention has a weighted head and a double bent shaft that is bent oppositely at spaced apart points along the shaft to off-set a lower end portion of the shaft outwardly from an upper end portion of the shaft. The weighted head is secured on the lower end portion of the shaft and a hand grip is telescoped over the upper end portion of the shaft. The preferred hand grip is a training grip which includes contoured depressions to accommodate a golfer""s fingers when properly griping the shaft. The training grip has elevated portions between the gripping area for the golfer""s thumb and forefinger, so as to position the golfer""s hands appropriately relative to the shaft of the swing trainer. The weighted head is removable and replaceable with weighted heads of any number of practical weights.
The shaft is double bent, such that the weight provided by the head will be generally centered outwardly and above the center line of the upper end portion of the shaft. Because the respective center lines of the upper and lower end portions of the shaft, and the center portion of the shaft reside in the same plane, the weighted head at the lower end of the shaft will bias the shaft toward a tilt in one direction or the other away from a perfectly upright position if the plane in which these respective portions of the shaft reside is not held in a vertical position with respect to the vector of the gravitational pull acting on the weighted head when the golfer using the swing trainer is at the top of the back swing. In this way, the user will be able to feel the difference between a proper back swing where the swing trainer is held in a position in which the respective portions of the shaft fall within such a vertical plane, and an improper back swing where the respective portions of the shaft are held in such a position that they fall in a plane other than a vertical plane. This helps the golfer to feel the difference between a proper swing and an improper swing. Therefore, repeated use of the swing trainer will allow the golfer direct his or her practice toward repeated use of the proper swing technique, such that this swing technique can be learned and even memorized.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club swing training club that will permit the golfer to be comfortable and to use their most natural swing movement so long as they keep the shaft and the weighted head in a vertical plane at the top of the back swing. It is a further object to provide a swing trainer which is short in length so that it can be easily stored and carried, and easily used indoors where space for swing clubs and/or swing trainers is limited. Another advantage is to provide a training club that can be easily used by all golfers regardless of age, gender, and left or right handed users. The variable weight of the detachable weighted heads make the present swing trainer especially versatile in this respect. A further object is making it of durable, and yet, inexpensive components which may be assembled and modified as desired, without extra-ordinary skills or any tools needed.
It is another general object of the present invention to provide a golf swing trainer for use by a golfer to train himself or herself to consistently perform a well-timed, well-executed golf swing, the club head finishing high and along a desired target line.
Another object is to provide a golf swing trainer, where, with practice, a golfer will imprint on his or her mind a proper and preferred golf swing that he can then consistently execute with a conventional golf club.
Still another object of the present invention in a golf swing trainer is to provide a device that has essentially a standard golf club configuration for swinging as a golfer would normally swing a conventional golf club.
Still another object of the present invention in a golf swing trainer is to provide a trainer that can be used without prior preparation or set-up when time allows, to provide, with repeated use, muscle conditioning, a mental imprinting, and motion blending and reinforcement of a desired golf swing.
Still another object of the present invention in a golf swing trainer is to provide a trainer similar to a golf club that includes a grip that is contoured for exact positioning of the golfer""s hands and can be used repeatedly without wear.
In accordance with the above objects, the present invention in a golf swing trainer provides a device that has similarities to a conventional golf club, that has a shaft that is bent at spaced points to off-set a lower end thereof from the upper end portion, to which lower end portion, a weighted head is connected. The upper end portion preferably includes a grip contoured to accommodate and properly position a golfer""s hands closed around the grip. The shaft bends, respectively, are at similar but not the same angles, one above and the other below the plane of the shaft at spaced apart points. The shaft sections or segments above and below the bends are generally not parallel to one another and the head end thereof, will be offset with respect to the upper end portion or upper section to which the grip is secured. The bends are spaced apart a distance to provide the desired off-set of the lower end portion to which a weighted club head is secured, from what would preferably be the line of the shaft of a conventional golf club, also known as the golf club effective center line.
The off-setting of the head a distance from the effective center line provides a castering effect after the weighted club head has swung through the bottom of the swing arc, just below where it would contact a golf ball. Also, both the shaft off-set and the weighted head are offset, so that when the swing trainer is swung, the offset will accentuate the left and right side extension of the golfer""s body and rolling action of the golfer""s hands, one over the other, at release.
The club head is preferably significantly heavier than is a normal golf club head, and that head is construed such that its mass is centered at a point outwardly from and above the head center with respect to where the shaft end connects to the head. To provide the desired weight distribution, the trainer head is preferably made from a metal bar stock that is bent through several angles back on itself such that the greater percentage or portion of that head is centered at a point outward from and above the head center. Also, the area within the bent bar stock is left open to minimize air resistance when swung, and the bar stock is preferably coated with a paint, plastic or like material.
The head weight and its off-set arrangement when the trainer is swung provides an emphasis to all the elements of a golf swing. The weight positioning creates a moment whereby, that club head will tend to finish higher, travel faster, and emphasizes the roll-over of the hands over one another at release. Thereby, a dynamic interrelationship between the golf swing elements is provided. A golfer, properly positioning his or her hands around the grip, can swing the trainer through extension, release and follow-through, with the trainer head weight and its arrangement causing him or her to be more aware of each aspect of his swing as well as muscle conditions, enabling him or her to later consistently perform the same swing smoothly and uniformly with a conventional golf club.
In practice, when the trainer is drawn back prior to swinging, the weighted head encourages a full extension. During the swing, when the head travels through a lowest point just below where a ball would be positioned, the off-set head weighting arrangement pulls the golfer""s hands through a proper release. The weighted head then tends to hold its path of travel along the target line through follow-through. The weighted head and its location away from a normal club effective center line, during a swing, also acts to pull a golfer""s weight from one side to the other, the upper body rotating therewith.
Still further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty that characterize the present invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto informing a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the present invention, its advantages and other objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings, which form a further part hereof and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.